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Soccerdad1995 wrote:Am I losing much by just running the same weight and type of bullet in guns with different barrel lengths?

I don't think so. As long as you have proven that ammo choice in your own guns. Most ammo will perform fine from most guns... does that leave some gaps? Sure, but as long as the ammo runs in your gun, that solves 95% of the problem. Is it possible to get slightly better performance out of each gun by tailoring the choice for each? Maybe, but that's a LOT of time, money and effort.

In the discussion above, we're splitting hairs on a particular round in .40 cal... because it's a slow day.


Grundy- look up DIY ballistic gelatin (with knox gelatin). There are a few ways to make it- a couple get close enough to calibrate. And after you shoot it up and recover your rounds, you can remelt it and use it again.

Grundy,

I'm not trying to suggest that your ammo isn't great- but actual testing seems to be in conflict with some of the marketing info. (which by nature is supposed to make any ammo sound like the proverbial magic bullet) Just because they say it's designed to do x,y or z doesn't mean that your gun will act like their test guns or pressure chambers. No ammo can work perfect at all velocities and out of any gun.

Test in your own gun to see what happens. Gel and barrier tests are not too difficult to do if you have a place to do it, they are just time consuming to set up.

Just because you have a 5" bbl doesn't mean your performance is going to be better than a 4" bbl... I have a 45acp in 4" that routinely outpaces a 5" in the chronograph. Is that normal- no, but it happens enough to not take what the marketing guys say, as Gospel. Remember these are same the people who make "zombie" killing ammo.

Grundy1133 wrote: see on all these tests, they use a compact for the S&W .40 which causes hornady critical duty (the ammo i carry) to over penetrate. however I carry a fullsize, which is what critical duty was really designed for... I wish they would have shot the ammo from a gun that the ammo was meant for.

Only two ways to make a bullet over penetrate gel... more velocity or less/no expansion.

What you have suggested is that duty ammo from a 1" shorter barrel is either moving faster (which it's not) or that it's moving so much slower that it's not expanding. This is more likely but still not comforting... generally handgun rounds don't lose more than 50-100 fps when dropping an inch to a compact. So if you are that close to the speed it fails to expand then anything you hit prior (think clothing even) will slow the bullet before it is in tissue. And considering that gel is the OPTIMUM medium for bullet expansion, you will likely see less real world performance on any real target.

If you are that close to the expansion/performance edge then I would consider an alternate carry ammo. I would at least test the critical defense in your gun... sounds like it expands at lower velocity and expands more reliably.

You are over thinking it... but most of us do! The reality is that a full size .40 with today's ammo will do the intended job if you hit the target.

I give ZERO thought to overpenetration. Outside a war zone, I have not heard or read of anyone getting shot by a pass through on another, even in the crazy leo shoot outs. But hear regularly of bystanders catching a stray round that missed the intended target. It goes back to post BHill's post (which is what I was initially going to quote about hit stats)- if you will train and worry about your own preparation and shot placement than a pass through round will be of little concern.